Gardens of the Moon/Chapter 15
Darujhistan/Gadrobi Hills Quick Ben/Paran In a hut, likely in Darujhistan, Quick Ben has performed another ritual and is spying on Hairlock. As Kalam is still not fully recovered, Trotts is guarding his back instead. Close to the Gadrobi Hills, Hairlock attacks Paran and Toc. Before Paran can react, the puppet throws Toc into an unknown Warren. Paran faces off with Hairlock, the latter vowing a protracted painful death for Paran, because he dared interfere with his attack on the Hound Gear, back in Pale. As they are about to engage, they hear the howling of Hounds in the distance. Watching the initial ambush, Quick Ben, astounded at the captain's presence, uses a piece of Sorry's bedroll to cast a message via her to Cotillion, knowing that she is indeed possessed by the Rope. He feels the man's presence enter his mind and tells him to pass the exact location of Hairlock on to Shadowthrone this being part of his end of the deal he made. Lorn Lorn explores the Hills and comes across Coll and his group unexpectedly. She attacks them instantly without thinking. Lorn injures Coll with a slash across his thigh, cutting an artery, which causes a lot of blood loss. Murillio fights with his rapier, wounding Lorn on her shoulder, but eventually Lorn hits him on his head with the flat of her blade, whilst Kruppe is unable to access his warren due to her Otataral sword, and in his surprise, gets bowled back from his mule and landing on his head, falls unconscious. Crokus gets ready to fight with Lorn, but first tries to ask her to back off, since they don't know her and mean her no harm. They agree to stay away from each other on the condition that Crokus tends to the wounded for that evening, and leaves for Darujhistan the next day without troubling her. Sorry Having delivered the message to Shadowthrone, Sorry closes in on Crokus and his group, preparing to ambush them. They disappear over the crest of a hill and moments later, she hears the sound of fighting which also involves the unveiling of Otataral. From the top of the hill, she sees that most of the group is on the ground and Crokus is talking to the Adjunct, whom Sorry recognises. Once Lorn has left, Sorry moves forward to kill Crokus. Paran/Quick Ben Declining Paran's request to engage with him now, Hairlock opens his Warren to escape the Hounds. At that moment, Quick Ben cuts the strings connecting him with Hairlock and the puppet loses control over its limbs. Paran refuses Hairlocks request to lift him into the open Warren. Moments later, all seven Hounds of Shadow arrive and destroy the puppet, easily ripping it apart. They then turn their attention on Paran, four of them proceeding to surround Paran, who eagerly awaits their attack with his sword Chance in his hands. Anomander Rake arrives and confronts the Hounds. He and Paran have a conversation wherein Paran reveals that he was being attacked by the Hounds because he showed mercy, having saved the Hound Gear from being possessed by Hairlock. Rake says that Paran should always finish what he started. Paran asks Rake if he is someone to be feared and Rake replies that the answer is in the hesitation that the Hounds have shown so far. At that point, the Hounds all attack at once, in a blur. Anomander responds by killing Doan and Ganrod with Dragnipur and forces Shadowthrone (when he appears) to recall Cotillion (from his possession of Sorry). He asks Shadowthrone to keep away from matters of the Empire and leave the Empress to him. Shadowthrone responds by recalling Cotillion, forcibly extracting him, then withdraws. Listening to the exchange, Paran realizes that he is dealing with Anomander Rake, the Knight of High House Dark, and that in her divinations, Tattersail had predicted this very moment when Shadow and Dark would meet and blood would be spilled. Having finished with Shadowthrone, Rake discusses Paran's circumstances and concludes that he himself is no longer Oponn’s pawn, but that his sword still is. Rake advises Paran to get rid of the sword or break it if his luck ever turns then leaves with Crone who has arrived to warn Rake of another tool of Oponn. Paran Paran turns around, reflecting on the mess his vendetta has gotten Toc into. He feels that he has simply been responding to events and been blaming everything on others. Lost in thoughts, he touches the blood of one of the dead Hounds and finds himself in a completely different place, where the ground is flat and infertile and the sky is dark. A Hound attacks him almost immediately, pinning his arms with its claws and takeing his throat between its jaws, ready to kill. Instead, it pauses and releases Paran, throwing him away and inadvertently into the path of a wheel. Paran is dragged away and on to his feet by an unknown stranger who is chained by a collar to a gigantic wagon like all others he sees around. The two speak briefly, and the man informs him that he is in the warren of Dragnipur, where beings (including dragons) exist who have been killed by Rakes's sword. Paran offers to try and free the Hounds who have shattered the relative peace of Dragnipur and are disturbing the stranger. He approaches the Hounds and asks to examine their collars and chains. He follows the chains all the way to the underside of the wagon, finding no weakness. Paran calls upon Oponn through Chance. The male Twin appears and says the chains are held in Kurald Galain, the gate to the Realm of Darkness which lies at the center beneath the wagon. Paran uses the Twin as bait for the Hounds, and at the last moment releases him. The Oponn Twin disappears whilst Paran throws himself to the ground. The Hounds plunge into the portal to Kurald Galain, ostensibly freed from Dragnipur. Paran finds himself back on the Plain but the bodies of the two Hounds are now gone. Crokus Crokus is tending to Coll's wound when Sorry appears. He is terrified as he recognises her as the girl who killed Chert and the Guardsman at the D'Arle estate. Coll however is able to discern that she is completely disoriented. Crokus tries to speak to the girl and finds out that she seems to be Malazan but can understand and speak Daru, albeit in a broken fashion and that she seems to have lost her memory. Coll tells Crokus to take his horse and take the girl to Mammot immediately, as the girl seems to have been previously possessed and the scholar will understand these things better. He convinces Crokus that it might be vital for the welfare of Darujhistan to find out who brought her. Kruppe and Murillio will come to very soon and he and they can take care of themselves. Crokus agrees to go. de:Die Gärten des Mondes/Kapitel 15 15